You complicate my life
by anonymouskansan
Summary: AU.OOC spike. spike keeps finding orphaned kids,and for some reason,they all want to stay with him. BTVS/HP/SPN/Charmed
1. Chapter 1

London 1981

Spike was bored, and lonely. Ever since Dru had been killed by a slayer 5 years ago, the

fun had gone out of being evil. He had stopped killing, and was sticking to pig's blood.

He was nothing like the bloody poof, though. Nothing at all. He did not brood. He never

brooded. He just had deep thoughts, that's all. Before Spike could get any deeper into

thoughts about Angel, he had to jump out the way of a fat, ugly man in a fancy car

speeding out of an alley like demons were after him. He decided to check and see if there

were actually demons, just in case. There weren't any; all Spike found was a baby in a

cardboard box. He was about a year old, and had a weird scar on his forehead. Spike's

thought's went immediately to the fat man, and how he could track him down and kill

him. But that wouldn't help the baby, who was currently screaming his lungs out. "Oh,

bloody hell. What do you want me to do about it? I can't make him come back for you."

Sighing heavily, he picked up the baby, who immediately stopped screaming. "Great. I

suppose that means you like me, huh, kid? You want to stay with me? All right, if you

insist. But you'll need a name." He held the baby up and studied him.

"You look like a Michael to me. Michael Aurelius, you like that?" Spike looked up the

gradually lightening sky. "Come on then, little bit. Daddy needs to get out of the sun.

Hey! Daddy. I like that. Let's go Mikey. And so spike left the alley happy and no longer

lonely for the first time in 5 years, carrying the child formerly known as Harry Potter.


	2. Chapter 2

Denver 1985

Spike had changed so much in the last 4 years, he was almost unrecognizable. For

one thing, he had taken back his real name, William. He had stopped bleaching his hair,

and now wore it pulled back in a ponytail. He had stopped wearing all black, and now

just wore a leather jacket with t-shirts and jeans. He loved being a father, and could not

imagine his life without Mikey, who he loved even more than he had Dru. He squashed

those thoughts immediately-thinking of Dru still hurt too much, even after 9 years. He'd

rather think of pleasant things, like Mikey. Speaking of which- "daddy! Daddy! Come on,

get up! Get up, get up, get up! You promised." He could feel the tiny hands shaking his

arm, but laid perfectly still until Mikey climbed in bed with him, then he sprang up and

pounced in full vampire face. Grabbing the boy, he started tickling him mercilessly.

Mikey was giggling hysterically, and it wasn't until the little boy started gasping for air

that Will stopped his attack. "All right Mikey, you ready to go to the park?"

"Yay! Let's go, let's go! At 5 years old, Mikey was a very energetic kid, but had fully

adjusted to a vampire's lifestyle. He was nocturnal, and loved the constant traveling and

self defense lessons Will had recently started teaching him. By the time they got to the

park, it was 10:30, so naturally, there were no other kids there. That was Will's one

regret- that Mikey couldn't play with any kids his own age. As if somebody had been

listening, there was a sudden scream from the other side of the park; it sounded like a

terrified child. Grabbing Mikey, Will sprinted toward the sound. He found 3 vampires

trying to get to two little boys locked in a car- it looked like a 67 impala. Another man lay

on the ground, not moving. Pulling out a stake, Will quickly took care of the relatively

young, stupid vampires. The boys in the car looked about 2 and 6 years old, and were

watching him cautiously. Will checked on the man on the grass, who he assumed was the

boys' father. He couldn't hear a heartbeat, and there was no pulse. Mikey crawled out

from where he had hidden under the car. "Is he dead, daddy?" he asked solemnly.

"Is he dead?" another voice echoed. Will turned, and saw that the two boys had come out

of the car, but the older boy was standing between Will and the 2 year old. Just in case,

Will guessed, not offended at all. Opting for blunt honesty, Will replied "yes. He is. I'm

sorry." The boy's face crumbled, but he wouldn't cry in front of his brother. Trying to

help, Mikey spoke up "Hi. I'm Mikey, and that's my daddy. His name's Will. What're

your names?"

"I'm Dean, and that's Sam. I'm the only one allowed to call him Sammy."

"Ok. Sorry about your daddy." Then he turned to his own and asked-rather randomly, in

Will's opinion-"daddy, can they come with us? They need a new daddy, and I want

brothers." Shouldn't you ask them first? They might not want a new daddy." Will said

pointedly. "Oh. Do you want to be my brothers? We'll have lots of fun, I promise, and

daddy's a really good daddy." Dean looked at his dad's body. What would he think? He

would want them to have a family and be happy, right? "Ok, but I don't want to leave

daddy here."

"Not a problem. I'll bury him right under that tree over there, and then you can have as

long as you want to say goodbye, ok?" Will got John Winchester buried quickly, and

Dean sat under the tree for several hours, saying goodbye to his daddy and his old life.

Then, just before sunrise, he got up, took Will's hand, and walked away with his new

family.


	3. Chapter 3

1990-San Francisco

Will Aurelius and his 3 sons 11 year old dean, 10 year old Michael. And 7 year

old Sam had come to San Francisco to talk to a family of witches Will had heard of that

might know a spell so he could go out during the day with the boys. It wasn't healthy for

them to never go out during the day, and it wasn't safe for them to go out during the day

alone. The witches name was Halliwell, and Will had looked up the address in the

phonebook. The house was easy enough to find, but when they got there, the door was

wide open, and Will could smell blood inside. The fact that he could just walk inside

confirmed what he already knew; the witches were dead. However, he could still hear

heartbeats, two of them, coming from upstairs. Telling the boys to stay close to him, he

made his way past the bodies of three women and a man surrounded by scorch marks. He

found the source of the heartbeats in the attic. Two little boys, about 6 and 8 years old.

The older boy, with blonde hair and suspicious blue eyes, stood between Will and his

little brother. "who're you", he demanded.

"I'm Will, and these are my sons, Michael, Dean, and Sam. Are you guys ok?"

"No. Our family was just killed. Would you be ok?" he snapped angrily.

"Well-no. I am sorry about that, but I don't think you should stay here by yourselves.

Have you got any other family?"

"No. where are we gonna go now?" the younger boy started to cry.

"You could come with me, if you want. I've already got 3 boys, and I'm sure they'd love

for you to stay with us."

"I don't know. Are you human?"

Um, actually, no. I'm a vampire. But I'm not evil. Just ask my boys."

"we're not normal, either. We're witches," the 6 year old spoke up.

"Chris! You're not supposed to tell people!"

"Oh, it's ok, I already knew that."

"See? Besides, I like him, and I want to go with him."

"Fine! But if he kills us in our sleep, I'm blaming you."

"Ok!" He turned back to Will "I'm Chris, and this is my big brother, Wyatt."

As Will led his 5 sons out of the house, he did something he hadn't done fro a hundred

years. He prayed. He prayed that the didn't come across any more orphans, because 5

was enough, and there was no more room in the car. He wondered just when had life

gotten so complicated?


	4. Chapter 4

The Letter

"Dad! Michael took the last of the Lucky Charms!"

"It's my birthday; I can do whatever I want!"

"No, you can't!"

"Michael, give some of the cereal to Sam. It may be your birthday, but I didn't raise you to be selfish, or rude to your brothers, now did I?"

"No, dad. Sorry. Here Sam." He poured half the cereal into another bowl for Sam. Dean

was still asleep, and Wyatt and Chris had spent the night at a friend's house. Then, the

whole argument became pointless when a large owl came in through the window and

landed right in front of Michael, knocking both bowls of cereal to the floor. It held its leg

out, and Michael saw that there was a letter tied to it. Looking at Sam curiously, he took

the letter from the owl and opened it. He read it out loud:

'Dear Harry potter,

you have been selected for a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and

Wizardry. Please reply by owl no later than August 15.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

"And so on, and so on. Dad, you said you could tell I was a wizard. Maybe I was this

Harry Potter person."

"Maybe you did used to be. I never could find the man who left you in that alley. Do you

want to go to this school and be Harry Potter?"

Michael gave it some thought. He didn't know anything about that world, that life. He

hadn't been Harry Potter in 10 years. "No. I want to stay here and be Michael Aurelius.

Besides, you would miss me too much if I left." He grinned at his dad and brother.

"Bloody right, we would! It's settled then. Just write back to this Dumb-door guy and tell

him you're not interested.

Dear, Mr. Dumbledore,

Thank you for inviting me to your school, but I would rather stay with my family.

Sincerely,

M. A

Formerly Harry Potter

As far as Michael was concerned, that was that. He and Sam cleaned up the spilled

cereal, and Will got started making waffles. Dean finally got up, and Wyatt and Chris

came home. What Albus Dumbledore didn't realize was that Wiccan magic interfered

with wizard magic, and the only reason he had been able to find Michael this time was

because Wyatt and Chris weren't home. He would never be able to track Michael ever

again.


	5. Chapter 5

"Dean! Wait up!" Dean sighed, but stopped and waited for his little brothers to

catch up. As the oldest, It was his job to look out for the others. Wyatt and Michael

hurried up, followed by Chris. Sam lagged behind, like usual. Sometimes Dean envied

Sam; he didn't remember their other dad, this was the only life he knew. Dean, Chris and

Wyatt were the only ones that could remember their old families. Michael and Sam had

been too young. Speaking of Sam… "Hey, hurry up slowpoke!" Wyatt called. Sam made

a face and flipped him off. "You'll pay for that later, little brother!" Sam started to hurry

after his brothers, but stopped in surprise when he heard a car screeching close behind

him. He didn't even have time get out of the way before the out of control car slammed

into him. The driver was drunk, and had jumped the curb. He didn't have a scratch on

him; he simply got out of the car and stumbled a few feet before sitting down on the curb

a few feet away. "Sammy!" Dean screamed, and all four boys ran toward their fallen

brother. As they ran, Wyatt pulled out his cell phone and called 911. "911, what is your

emergency?"

"My brother! He was hit by a car, he's not moving!"

"OK, sir, help is on the way, where are you?"

"The corner of 7th and Locust, please hurry!"

"Sir, how old are you and your brother?"

"I'm 13, and he's 12. Our other brothers are 16, 15, and 11. is that enough useless

information for you?! Where's that ambulance?!"

"The ambulance is on the way. Are your parents with you?" Wyatt noticed she ha

dropped the 'sir' now that she new how old he was. "We don't have a mom, and our

dad's at home. Finally, the ambulance pulled up, and 3 paramedics spilled out of it,

heading straight for Sam. He informed the operator if this, and hung up. Sammy needed

him right now. Michael was telling the paramedics what happened. A cop was putting the

drunk in the back of his car. A second cop offered to drive Wyatt, Michael and Chris to

the hospital; Dean was riding in the ambulance with Sam. When they got to the hospital,

they were informed that Sam had been taken straight to surgery, and Dean was in the

waiting room. A doctor arrived to interrogate the boys: "After the surgery, we'll need

your parent's permission to do further medical treatment. Can you get hold of them?"

Chris spoke up "we don't have a mom, and our dad can't get here till later"

"Why not?"

"He's allergic to sunlight. He can't go out till after sunset."

"Really? That's a very rare condition, and it's often hereditary. I'm surprised none of you

have it."

"we're adopted," Dean explained reluctantly.

"Ok, then." It was obvious she didn't believe them. "Can you call him, and have him get

here as soon as possible?"

Michael checked his watch. "Sunset's in 20 minutes. I'll call him and he'll get here as

soon as possible. Sam won't even be out of surgery by then."

"You do that." The doctor turned and walked away.

1 ½ hours later

"Family for Sam Aurelius?" Dr. Matthews called, expecting only the four rather

rude boys with yet another excuse about their absent father. However, there was another

man with them with a blonde ponytail, jeans, and a leather jacket. He stepped up to her

and in a soft British accent said, "I am William Aurelius. Is my son ok?"

Pulling herself together, she replied, "Yes, he's going to be ok. There was no head wound

of internal bleeding, which was very lucky, but his left leg was broken in 3 places, along

with his collarbone and right wrist. We've repaired all the damage, and he's in recovery

right now. We expect him to wake up later tonight."

"Thank you very much, ma'am. When can we see him?"

"Tomorrow, after he wakes up."

"Alright, thank you again. My sons and I will wait here, please inform us when Sam

wakes up." His tone warned her not to argue.

"Yes, Sir."

As soon as the doctor was gone, Will turned to his sons. "We need to talk. What

happened tonight can't happen again. I hated not being able to be there for you boys. I

think I have a solution, though. There's a legend of a gem that allows vampires to walk in

the sunlight. It's called the Gem of Amara, and if we find it, I can finally be a real dad to

you, during the day.. What do you say? Will you help me find it?"

"Of course, dad," Dean said immediately, " And you're already a great dad. Don't ever

doubt that." There immediate agreement from the other three, and they agreed to start

looking for the gem the next day. "Ok, then," Will said suddenly, "on to another matter:

breaking Sammy out of here before they realize we're not insured!"


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, I wouldn't have so much trouble paying my rent, now would I?

"_Dad_!" Wyatt called excitedly, "_I found it! I found the Gem of Amara_"! Will

came running into the room; after 2 years of nonstop searching, they had finally found it!

"Look, see, it says right here: 'The gem of Amara rests with Du Lac in Boca De Inferno

where the sun dies.' Boca De Inferno is the hellmouth, and the sun sets in the west. The

only hellmouth to the west is Sunnydale, California. And Du Lac is a priest buried there.

All we have to do is go there and find his tomb, dig it up, and get the gem. Easy!"

"Not that easy, kid."

"Why not?"

"Because the hellmouth is guarded by a slayer. She won't let us just come in and start

digging up tombs."

By this point, the other boys, who had heard Wyatt shouting, had gathered in the kitchen,

and were now waiting to here more about this slayer their dad seemed so afraid of. He

was never afraid of _anything_!

"what's the big deal about this girl? You can take her." Dean said confidently.

"Not this girl. She has powers and training specifically designed to take out vampires and

demons. She won't care that I haven't killed anyone in 20 years, or that I have a family.

She'll only care that I'm a vampire, and she'll kill me on sight."

"No!" all 5 boys cried at once.

"No way we'll let that happen! We'll take her out together!" Chris decided, looking at his

brothers for confirmation, and getting it immediately.

"Boys! _Boys_! Calm down! You will _not_ take on the slayer! She'll tear you in half even

you all go after her together. I won't risk you like that. We need a plan-a good one-

before we get to Sunnydale. Starting with avoiding the slayer.

-meanwhile in Sunnydale-

"Boss! We found the gem! The huge, but fairly new vampire called from deep

inside the tomb he and the gang had been digging in.

"Yay! Good work gang! You're all getting a special present tonight," a voice called from

outside. "Can I see it?"

"sure, come on in. It won't cave in."

"EW! No way am I going in there; it's _dirty_! The vampire sighed. Somehow, he hadn't pictured immortality would be quite this…annoying.

"Fine, Boss." Leaving the cave, he found his 'boss' waiting just outside the cave's

opening. "Here." He handed over the ring, waiting to hear what she would say about the

ancient, powerful, priceless ring they had spent months finding and digging up.

"Oohh! Pretty!"

1 week later

Will and the boys made it to Sunnydale in a 'borrowed' brand new Jaguar. Hey,

he may not be evil anymore, but he still had to have some fun sometimes. Dean had

begged (in a manly way, of course) to be allowed to drive, and Will had given in. When

they reached Sunnydale, Dean suddenly swerved around an animal in the road, and ran

straight into the 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign, knocking to whole thing to the ground.

Everyone cheered, whether at Dean's driving skills, the death of the sign, or the fact that

they'd made it here alive, Dean didn't know. Or care. Will sent them to find an

abandoned house to squat in while they were here; it was cheaper than a hotel, and all 6

of them wouldn't fit in one room anyway. He told them he'd come find them later, and

set off to find the gem. He knew exactly where it was buried-Wyatt was excellent at

research- but when he got there, a tunnel had already been dug. He followed it and ended

up at the tomb, which had already been raided, and there were several piles of dust that

had once been vampires on the floor. Apparently, the slayer had already been here and

had taken the ring. He sighed. So much for avoiding the slayer. He would have to think

this plan through. Spike would have simply charged in, but Will had a family to think

about. The slayer wouldn't hesitate to kill a vampire, but hopefully, she wouldn't kill

human children. He hated putting his boys at risk, but he knew they would want to help.

When he brought up this plan to the boys, sure enough, they were all for it. Michael even

improved the plan: "How about instead of just confronting the slayer and possibly dying,

we kidnap one of her friends and exchange them for information."

"The slayer has friends?"

"I know. Amazing, isn't it?"

"Who'd want to be friends with her?"

"Boys! Back on track please?"

"Sorry, dad."

"ok, so the plan is take one of the slayer's friends, and tell her she'll get them back when

she tells us where the ring is. Sound good?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Let's go do it then"

The 5 boys set off for the high school, which, thanks to Wyatt's research, they knew to be

the slayer's base of operations. They found her in the library, talking to a red haired girl,

a black haired boy, and an older man who was probably her watcher. Watching from the

door, they quickly discussed a plan.

"The redhead's a witch. I can feel it." Chris stated. Wyatt and Michael agreed. She

wasn't as powerful or well trained as they were, but it would still make kidnapping her

difficult. They also ruled out the watcher. He could do magic, too. That left the boy. The

five of him could take him out easily. They worked out a plan and went outside to wait.

Buffy, Willow and Xander, after a long night of researching the demon of the

week, left the library and went their separate ways. Buffy to patrol, Willow and Xander

headed home. Xander had just gotten out of sight and hearing range of the girls when he

heard a child crying. Warily, because this _was _the hellmouth, he went to check it out.

Behind a tree, he found a boy about 11 years old, crying his eyes out.

"Hey, kid, you ok?"

"A vampire took my brother!" he got out between sobs.

"Hey, it's ok. I know someone who can help. Come with me and we'll"-he broke off as

he felt something hit him in the back of the head, and everything went black. When he

came to, it took him a few minutes to focus. First, he focused on the fact that he was tied

to a chair. Not good. Then, he focused on the fact that he wasn't alone. Also not good.

One of the boys in the room was Crying Boy from last night. The others he'd never seen

before, but he suspected one of them was responsible for his pounding headache. Maybe

the one with the funky scar on his forehead. Said funky-scar boy spoke up suddenly.

"Hey! I just had an even better idea of what to do with the guy."

"I'd rather you not do anything with me", Xander interjected hopefully. They ignored

him, instead looking at Scarhead expectantly, so he went on "Instead of trading this guy

for the info, why don't we just ask him directly? He's always hanging out with the slayer;

he's bound to know where she sent it. This way, we can also avoid the slayer like dad

wanted to. He'll be happy about that." They apparently didn't care that Xander could hear

every word they were saying and was frantically trying to figure out what they wanted.

They had mentioned Buffy, but only bad guys called her 'slayer'. And they wanted to

know where she had sent something. He really hoped he knew what and where it was.

Xander really, really didn't want to meet their dad. They were bad enough, their dad

could only be worse. He was more than willing to be 'traded' back to Buffy for whatever

info they wanted. The sooner the better. Apparently, the other boys agreed with

Scarhead's new plan, because they all turned to him and Crying Boy took the lead with

the interrogation.

"Ok, tell us where the slayer sent the Gem of Amara. We need it."

"The Gem of- oh! That ring that makes vampires invincible? Buffy sent that to Angel in

L.A." He was so relieved that he could tell them what they wanted that he didn't think

about how pissed Buffy would be that he'd sent these guys after her precious Angel.

"It's a ring? And it makes vampires invincible? I thought it just let them walk in the sun?

That's awesome!" Crap, crap, crap! Obviously, they were working for a vampire that

wanted the ring so he could go on a killing spree during the day. Too late now, he'd

already given them the information,. Buffy was going to kill him, if these guys didn't

first. That thought sent him into another panic and he almost missed what Scarhead was

saying "…on our way out of town, by the time she find him, we'll be long gone. Chris,

go tell dad what we found out. Wait, what?? They called the vampire 'dad'? Who would

ever want to do that? Vamps were nasty, pointy, bitey demons! In no way should they

ever be called 'dad'! He had to tell Buffy about this as soon as she came and got him if he

was still alive, of course. The five boys left the room; he hoped they would leave town as

soon as possible.

Dean entered the library, but didn't see anyone. "Hello!" he called, "is there a

slayer here?" That was sure to get her attention, he thought. Sure enough, the small

blonde he'd seen last night came running, stake held high, followed by the redhead and

the watcher. She was about to plunge he stake into him, but the watcher stopped her.

"Don't, Buffy. He's human."

"But, Giles! He called me slayer!" she whined.

"Not everyone that knows about you is a demon."

"Fine." She pouted. "So who are you, and what do you want?"

Dean smirked. "None of your business, and I just came to deliver a message."

"Ok, so talk."

"I just wanted to tell you we have your friend-what's his name- the dark haired boy

you're always hanging out with."

The redhead paled and cried out, but Buffy-who named their kid 'Buffy', anyway-simply

narrowed her eyes in way he figured was supposed to look dangerous, but only made her

look nearsighted.

"You have Xander? Where? Is he ok? Who's 'we'? Why-"

"Yes, we have Xander." He said, cutting her off. "None of your business who 'we' is.

He's ok; he's in an abandoned house on Parker St. We got what we wanted from him,

and now we're leaving town. Bye!" With that, he turned and left Buffy, Willow and Giles

staring after him for a minute before running after him. All they saw was a big, fancy car

squealing out of the parking lot. With no hope of catching him, they turned their attention

to finding Xander.


	7. Chapter 7

Will had not been happy to learn that Angel had the ring. No way would he give it up without a fight. He had no idea about the boys, or the fact that Will hadn't killed anyone in 20 years, and he really want to avoid telling Angel about the boys if at all possible. Who knows what he would do if he found out. First things, first, though, was finding Angel. The kid his sons had interrogated had told them that Angel was a PI, so that should make him a little easier to track down. Sure enough, he found him in less than an hour; he was listed in the Yellow Pages, of all things. Not very stealthy of him at all; he was loosing his edge, Will thought, laughing to himself. Leaving the boys in yet another abandoned house, he set off to find Angel Investigations.

Angel, to but it bluntly, was bored. There were no cases, the phone lines were down (Which is why Buffy didn't call and warn him about Will), and Cordy hadn't had a single vision in 3 days. He wanted something, anything, to happen. Naturally, Karma was listening, (and laughing hysterically). The door opened, and he immediately recognized the scent of someone he had hoped to never see again. "Spike." He stated sourly, and went to confront, and hopefully, kill him. He stopped short at the sight in front of him: Spike with a dark blonde, shoulder length ponytail, blue jeans, and a white t-shirt, instead of the bleached blonde hair, and all black leather outfit he'd been wearing in the late 70s, when Angel had last seen him.

"Hey, Angel" he said quietly.

"What are you doing here, Spike?"

"I just want the ring, I didn't come for a fight, but I will if I have too." He didn't need to explain which ring- it was obvious.

"You? Not wanting to fight? That's a first. And I'm not giving you the ring, Spike," Angel Sneered.

"Will."

"What?" Now Angel was confused.

"I've gone to using the name 'Will'. I haven't been Spike for 20 years now."

"Wow. If this isn't an act, you've changed more than I ever thought possible."

"It's not an act. You know I've never been a good actor, anyway."

Angel had to laugh. "Yeah, that's true. So why do you want the ring so bad, anyway?"

Sp-_Will _immediately tensed. "I can't tell you."

Angel swore inwardly. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. "Why not?"

"None of your business." When he said that, he got an amused look on his face, for some reason Angel couldn't begin to figure out.

"If you want the ring, it is."

"No."

"Fine. No talking, no ring."

"Damn it, Angel!" He could definitely see a little bit of Spike right then. Will glared at him viciously. "I guess I'll just have to find another way then, won't I?"

"You do that." He wasn't afraid of Will, but he'd have to tell Cordy and Doyle to be on their guard. Will turned and left, presumably to come up with a plan. Angel wondered briefly if he should be worried. 2 nights later, they were all researching when the phone rang. Doyle answered, as Cordy had just painted her nails, and they were still wet. "Angel Investi-" he was cut off by a young boy's frantic voice

"Vampires took my brother! Please, you have to help me!"

"Alright. Where are you, exactly?" The boy gave them an address several miles away, near the beach.

"we'll be there in a few minutes. Just hang on, ok?" He hung up. The phone had been on speaker, so Angel and Cordy were already ready to go. As soon as they were gone, the door opened again, and 5 boys came in from where they'd been hiding around the corner. They were all laughing; "Help me, help me! Man, Chris, I never knew you were such a good actor!" Chris bowed mockingly.

"Thank you, thank you. You may throw flowers and candy if you wish." His brothers started laughing harder, and mock wrestling like boys tend to do, until Michael put a stop to it. "Ok, guys. Back on track? We don't have all night to find this ring, you know."

"You're right. You don't." A new voice said from behind them. The boys all spun around. Angel had seen them sneaking in; apparently they should have waited a little longer before coming out of hiding. "Alright. Who are you, and what do have to with Spike?"

"His name is Will." Chris retorted. Sam kicked him in the ankle to shut him up, but it was too late.

"Did he hire you?"

"That's none of you business," Dean spat.

Angel raised an eyebrow. "That's what he said." Just, then the subject of their 'discussion' came running in to the room. He'd seen the boys go in, and Angel follow them. He'd been worried. "Boys! Are you ok?!"

"We're fine, dad." Wyatt replied without thinking.

If Angel didn't know better, he'd swear his heart had just stopped. He tried to growl, but it came out a wheeze. "Dad? You're their dad? Since when? How? Wh-"

Cordy interrupted with a question of her own. "Since when can vamps even have kids? Angel? Why didn't you tell me this was possible?!" Her voice got higher with each word, until it was hurting both vampire's sensitive ears.

"Calm down, Cordy. I never mentioned it because it's not possible." Especially not 5 times over. Will, why don't tell me exactly how this happened." It was not a request.

"Fine. The boys are adopted. I found them all as orphans, took them in, and raised them. They're the reason stopped being Spike, and the reason I need the ring, so ii can go out during the day with them."

"You really expect me to believe to that?"

"Yes, because it's the truth. The fun went out of being evil when Dru died, and a few years after that, I found Michael abandoned in an alley in London, and took him with me. I found Sam and Dean a few years later, then Wyatt and Chris. We're a family. It's as simple as that, Peaches." Angel scowled at the nickname he'd thought he was free of.

"Well, there's no way I'm letting you leave with the ring and these kids."

"No way you're taking my kids from me, you bloody poof. I'll kill you first! I've raised these kids just fine for 17 years without. I don't need help from anyone, especially you!"

"Whoa, calm down. Nobody's talking about taking the kids from you. I know you kill me if I did. I just meant that the 6 of you could stay here. We could certainly use the help, and you could even borrow the ring occasionally…"

"Oh, so that it. You want to blackmail me into staying here so you can what? Keep an eye on me? Maybe turn the boys against me? You seem to be forgetting how well I know you, Angelus. Let me repeat: I. Don't. Need. You." Angel sighed. Ok. Blackmail hadn't worked. Plan B? "Well, you never know. You might like working here; you do know a lot about demons, and I'm sure the boys would like staying in one place, rather than moving around all the time. And I would let you borrow the ring. I wasn't kidding about that."

"I'll have to talk to the boys first, see what they want to do."

"I think you should do it, dad. At least we'll get the ring.

"I'd like staying in one place."

"They've got some awesome books."

"It might be cool, living here."

"Where my brothers go, I go. Why not?"

Angel smirked. "Looks like it's unanimous. What do you say?"

"Oh, Bloody hell! Fine! We'll stay. Just remember, the boys are mine, not yours. You have no say over them whatsoever. Got it?"

"Got it. Why don't you get started trying to find an apartment, and I'll talk to Cordy and Doyle"( they had snuck outside so they wouldn't be in the way to two angry vampires.)

"Great, back 30 seconds, and he's already giving orders. I must be out of my bloody mind!" He muttered under his breath. He gathered the boys and left, while Angel went to talk to Cordy and Doyle. As he'd expected, they weren't the least bit happy. "What do you mean he's staying here? Isn't he evil? He'll kill us all in our sleep!" Cordy screeched. He says he hasn't killed anyone in 20 years, and I believe him. I'd be able to tell if he was lying."

Doyle simply asked, "are you sure this is a good idea? You know I'll go along with it if you say so."

"Yes, I'm sure this is a good idea. I want him here where I can keep an eye on him. Especially with all those kids."

"Fine, but I'm carrying a stake and a cross with me at all times."

"Fine with me, but if you hurt him, those boys will tear you apart."

"I think I can handle a few teenage boys."

"Even teenage boys raised by Spike?"

"Um…"

"Exactly."

"Will I have to take a pay cut?"

"No."

"Then I'll go along with this, but if he kills us in our sleep, you are in for the mother of all 'I told you so's. Got it?"

"Got it."

Epilogue

6 months later

"Dad!" Will turned at the shout, just in time to stab the demon sneaking up behind him. "You ok, dad?"

"Just fine, Chris. You didn't think that demon would get the better of _me_, did you?"

"Of course not. Is it dead?"

"Very dead." Even as he spoke, the demon dissolved in a puddle of goo until there was nothing left. "Our work here is done, then. Let's get back to the hotel before Captain Forehead starts worrying."

"He's not the worrier. Wes is. He thinks you shouldn't bring a poor defenseless 12 year old on a demon hunt, even though I'm a witch."

"Yeah, he's thick-headed like that. That's why he and Sam get along so well."

"Oh, I wish he could hear you say that!"

"It's true. You know how your brother is."

"Yeah, I know, but try telling him that!" Laughing, the two made their way back the car they had 'borrowed' from Angel, and headed back to the hotel, ready for a shower, bed, and tomorrow's demon-of-the-day.


End file.
